Archive for December, 2011

[Editor’s Note: The following is a guest post by Tramy Evelyn Huyn. Tramy is a graduate of Seton Hall University who organized a discussion amongst members of the New York City Vietnamese Meetup Group and Ambassador Ngo Quang Xuan.]

For about a month, I worked on organizing a discussion on Agent Orange that occurred on the 5th of November 2011. Little did I know how much I would learn from this discussion and the people who attended.

Ambassador Xuan (center) meets with members of the New York City Vietnamese Meetup Group in Brooklyn.

We had the pleasure of having Ambassador Ngo Quang Xuan as our guest speaker along with his daughter, Lan. Ambassador Xuan and his daughter are passionate about helping those that have been affected by Agent Orange and discussed the U.S.-Vietnam Dialogue Group Plan of Action. I was glad to hear that there is a dialogue between the U.S. and Vietnam and a well thought out plan developed by both sides.

I think about Agent Orange and at times it seems so big, where does one start? I am glad the Dialogue Group has been working on a Plan of Action and the attendees were great in terms of contributing their experiences related to Agent Orange.

One attendee shared that he is sponsoring a child in Vietnam who is living with the affects of Agent Orange. He receives updates on how the child is doing. I was as moved by his story as everyone who attended the discussion.

Another person recounted visiting an orphanage for children living with the effects of Agent Orange. The more people participated in the discussion, the more I felt the love in the room for those that are living with the effects of Agent Orange.

I had no idea how much generosity; kindness and love would be expressed for the children, parents and families living with the effects of Agent Orange. I now have a deep desire to build public awareness of Agent Orange and the people living with its effects. It is the least I can do.

We cannot underestimate how much love others will give to those living with the effects of Agent Orange. It is love that will help us clean up Agent Orange.

We had the pleasure of having Ambassador Ngo Quang Xuan as our guest speaker along with his daughter, Lan. Ambassador Xuan and his daughter are passionate about helping those that have been affected by Agent Orange and discussed the U.S. Vietnam-Dialogue Group on Agent Orange’s Plan of Action. I was glad to hear that there is a dialogue between the U.S. and Vietnam and a well thought out plan developed by both sides.

I think about Agent Orange and at times it seems so big, where does one start? I am glad the Dialogue Group has been working on a Plan of Action and the attendees were great in terms of contributing their experiences related to Agent Orange.

One attendee shared that he is sponsoring a child in Vietnam who is living with the affects of Agent Orange. He receives updates on how the child is doing. I was as moved by his story as everyone who attended the discussion.

Another person recounted visiting an orphanage for children living with the effects of Agent Orange. The more people participated in the discussion, the more I felt the love in the room for those that are living with the effects of Agent Orange. I had no idea how much generosity; kindness and love would be expressed for the children, parents and families living with the affects of Agent Orange. I now have a deep desire to build public awareness of Agent Orange and the people living with its affects. It is the least I can do.

We cannot underestimate how much love others will give to those living with the affects of Agent Orange. It is love that will help us clean up Agent Orange.